UW-Madison program recognizes Wisconsin companies committed to sustainability

When it comes to sustainable business practices, Serigraph has done everything from finding less environmentally hazardous ink solvents to charging employees for a cup when getting coffee from the vending machine.

The West Bend, Wis.-based printing, molding and custom graphics company is among a handful of state businesses to join the Green Masters Program, developed by Wisconsin School of Business professor Tom Eggert and students from his Business, Environment & Social Responsibility Program.

The Green Masters Program defines a range of actions that companies can take so that they can credibly claim to be socially responsible businesses.

Many businesses in the state are embracing sustainability and actively engaged in their communities because of their commitment to sustainability, but they don’t get any credit for it, says Eggert. The Green Masters Program allows businesses to enlist a third party to certify their commitment to sustainability.

“Many businesses are looking for ways to gain visibility for their sustainability efforts, and the Green Masters Program was developed to shine a light on leading companies in the state,” Eggert says.

For Serigraph, working toward sustainability has a range of benefits: helping the environment, reducing costs and improving employee morale.

“There’s a balance there,” says Nick Leifeld, vice president of quality and corporate compliance for Serigraph. “We’ve always been trying to do things a good corporate citizen would … and this just goes above and beyond.”

To qualify for the Green Masters Program, a business must take action in each of 10 areas of sustainability, such as waste management, energy efficiency, transportation, purchasing, and education and outreach.

Companies will be scored and placed in one of three levels of the program. The companies newest to sustainability will be put in the “apprentice” level, while companies that score higher will be named “green professionals.” All participants in the program will be allowed to use the Green Masters logo — a sort of “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” — in marketing materials and will be recognized with a certificate.

Each year, the top 20 percent of companies that enroll in the program will be identified as “Green Master” businesses. Companies earning that distinction will be recognized at the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s annual meeting.

“We’re hoping the Green Masters certification is valued by the business community because sustainability is now a predictor of future business success,” Eggert says. “Hopefully, the program will encourage companies that have been doing sustainability to share their results with the world.”

Eggert’s students are also engaged in evaluating and promoting sustainable business practices in Wisconsin. Each semester, student teams work to produce “green” recommendations in response to certain questions posed by their business clients.

This spring, a group of students produced a report on the state of sustainability in Wisconsin as measured from the business perspective. The report, expected to become annual, looks at economic, environmental and social measures to take stock of progress in Wisconsin, Eggert says.

“We’re hoping the report becomes a resource to the business community because it’s focused on the triple bottom line,” he says. “We look at job loss and energy expenditures and try to really understand what’s happening within the context of environmental and social changes — that’s what makes this report special and unique.”

For example, it showed that Wisconsin spent more than $23 billion on energy in 2008, an increase over prior years, despite the economic recession. Because Wisconsin doesn’t have energy sources of its own, virtually all of those dollars went out of state, Eggert says.

“That should tell us that there is tremendous potential as we seek to develop uniquely Wisconsin energy resources,” he says.

For more information about the Green Masters Program, visit http://greenmastersprogram.com. To read the 2009 Wisconsin Sustainable Business Report, visit http://www.WIsustainabilityreport.com.